We're Jason, Beth, Lee Anna, Sawyer, and Sarah Claire, a family of five living, learning, and laughing lots in Northern Africa. We hope you can learn a little (and maybe laugh a little too) as you read about our latest adventures.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Those of you who know us well know that Jason and I are not what you would call "movie people." Actually, those of you who know us well know that that's a bit of an understatement. We just don't do movies--hardly ever. I could write you a treatise on why not, but I'll save that for another time. For now, what you need to know to appreciate this story is, we don't see very many movies (of course, that excludes anything targeted at the preschool set--we see several of those a day!).

Okay, here's the story:

A few days ago, Jason got in a taxi to go pick up the kids from daycare. The driver asked where he was from, and was excited when he found out that he was an American. Most people here are familiar with lots of American films and can rattle off a long list of American movie stars. Their favorites are usually guys like Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc. So this driver proceeds to ask Jason who his favorite movie stars are. No problem, right? Easy question. Well, not for him. Jason stumbles around a little bit, "uhh....ummm...yeah, movie stars..." trying hard to come up with one name that will make him sound intelligent and informed. So finally, he blurts out with, "Uhhh, I like Bill Cosby." BILL COSBY!!! You know, from those American cinematic classics "The Cosby Show" and "Fat Albert." Bill Cosby, who has probably never been called a "movie star" before in his life. That's the best he could do.

When he told me about this later (thankfully, I wasn't in the taxi when it happened or he would have had to explain to the driver why I was laughing so hard), he said that he was thinking, "I know I hear Brad Pitt's name all the time, but I don't know any movies that he's done." Much to his surprise, the driver wasn't familiar with Bill Cosby's work. It's probably a little too soft for these Arab guys. I don't think the Cosby Show had nearly enough fist fights and semi-automatic weapons for their taste.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

And here, finally, is the last installment of pictures from our Christmas vacation. We arrived in Pensacola to see Beth's family on Dec. 27. We spent the first few days trekking across Mississippi to see lots friends and relatives. Highlights included introducing Sawyer to his almost-93-year-old Great-Grandmother and taking Sawyer, Lee Anna, and their other Great-Grandmother to see Mississippi State play in the Liberty Bowl. We also got to catch up with several dear friends and meet some sweet babies who've been born while we were living overseas.

Then, we returned to Pensacola and spent about a week playing (and shopping!) before we headed back home. We had a super time in the states and loved getting to see so many of you. Here are a few pictures we took from our time with Beth's family.

Friday, January 11, 2008

The first year and a half of their lives, Lee Anna and her cousin Autumn lived very near each other in Texas. They played together and had lots of fun as little babies. Then Lee Anna picked up and moved half way around the world. They got reunited this Christmas at G.G. and Grandpa's house in Jacksonville. They couldn't really remember playing together (could they?) but through the wonders of digital photography, they were certainly not strangers when they met in December. As Beth sorted through the pictures for the previous slide show, she noticed a large collection of Autumn and Lee Anna pics. So she dug into the archives and found a few more of the girls when they were younger--and a little less talkative.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Here are some highlights from our time in Jacksonville. We had a blast getting to see Jason's sister and her family for the first time in two years. That meant that we got to meet their newest addition, Alyssa, for the first time, and they got to meet Sawyer for the first time. Sawyer & Alyssa are just 17 days apart in age, and Lee Anna & Autumn are just about 2 months apart, so those four had a great time playing together. We had a wonderful time, and said goodbye to a very worn out G.G. and Grandpa at the end of the week!